The Cream Of The Conservative Crop: 2009 Values Voter Summit

The 2009 Values Voter Summit kicked off Friday, September 18 in Washington, D.C. and ran through Sunday, September 20. The annual conservative gathering featured such Republican stars as Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX), above. TPM dissects the more interesting names for breakout sessions, including ‘Obamacare: Rationing Your Life Away’ here.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), and Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) held a health care panel at the event, a study in out-of-touch conservatism. According to Bachmann, 95 percent of our health care problems would be fixed if we allowed people to buy their own insurance. Plus a little tort reform.

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More from the health care panel:“You own your health care just like you own your auto insurance,” Bachmann said. “You can band together with whomever you want…it’s called freedom!”

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Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) diagnosed the conservative condition, saying “Right now, millions of Americans are waking up realizing that they don’t recognize their country anymore.”

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Former Miss California Carrie Prejean also gave a speech at the event (preceded by the likes of Cantor and Boehner), where she impressed the audience with an emotional message. “Even though I didn’t win the crown that night,” she said, “I know that the Lord has so much of a bigger crown in heaven for me.” The crowd got up and cheered.